In tumultuous times, Congressman opts for phones

LAKELAND — Chaos reigned at the last traditional town hall hosted by Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Lakeland).

Constituents packed a municipal building in Clermont in February as Ross presented his views on a health-care package Republicans in Congress were pushing as a replacement for the Affordable Care Act.

Many in the audience loudly expressed disapproval and exasperation as Ross answered questions. Some held signs reading “Boo” and “Disagree.”

Reporters from The New York Times and Los Angeles Times covered the event, describing it as emblematic of the hostile reactions Republicans in Congress were encountering during meetings with constituents in the early days of the Trump Administration.

Ross has not held another town hall since then. Instead, he has hosted a series of conference calls with constituents, or “teletownhalls,” as he calls them. The latest took place Wednesday afternoon, as Ross fielded calls on the Republicans’ proposed tax overhaul, along with hurricane relief and health care, from his Washington, D.C. office.

Ross, the House’s senior deputy majority whip, posted a photo of himself Wednesday on Twitter discussing tax reform with “Don from Plant City.” That drew several skeptical comments.

“Is Don even real and why did he get an invite?” one man asked. “I requested a town hall with your staff via phone weeks ago and nothing. It seems as though your (sic) looking to hear what you want vs. hearing what your constituents want.”

“A real Town Hall would be much more appropriate than selectively choosing people to participate in a teletownhall,” a woman wrote.

“You tweet about everything else. Why no notification of teletownhall?” another man asked.

J.P. Freire, Ross’ director of communications, said the telephone conferences are not intended to screen out constituents who don’t share the Congressman’s views. House ethics rules prohibit members from choosing participants in such events based on their political affiliation, he said.

Ross’ office uses a program to randomly select constituents in his district and invite them to participate, Freire said.

“We do reach a fairly representative sample of the district, just as we do with any town hall in person,” Freire said. “Congressman Ross is always comfortable with conversations with people with whom he disagrees.”

Ross was not available for an interview.

Freire said any constituent can ask to be put on the list of potential participants in future telephone conferences. A signup option can be found on Ross’ website (www.dennisross.house.gov).

Wednesday’s session lasted about an hour, Freire said. Ross’ office did not post a transcript of the phone calls.

Telephone town halls are nothing new for Ross, Freire said. The Congressmen began doing the virtual gatherings before his last in-person town hall and has been holding them at least once every two months, Freire said.

Other members of Congress host similar conversations with voters, and some do chats on Facebook Live.

Though he didn’t say Ross won’t again hold a traditional town hall, Friere said the atmosphere surrounding those events scares off some constituents.

“A lot of people are turned off from participating in the in-person town halls because they think they have become paid political theater,” Freire said.

Liberal groups such as Lakeland Indivisible organized bus rides to the Clermont event in February. Some conservative groups claimed those disrupting town halls held by Congressional Republicans were paid outsiders, though Lakeland Indivisible members said no one was paid to attend and all who rode their bus were voters in the district.

Ross’ district ranges from eastern Hillsborough County to southern Lake County and includes Lakeland, Polk City and the Four Corners area.

R. Bruce Anderson, an associate professor of political science at Florida Southern College, said he senses that few members of Congress are holding traditional town halls at the moment.

“I think what it is, to be honest with you, is I think they’re avoiding their constituents, but I think they’re also avoiding organized protests,” Anderson said. “This is a tough call because back in the day, holding a town hall sometimes could be raucous but it was usually spontaneous.”

By contrast, Anderson said, the hostility Ross and other Congressional Republicans have faced this year has been orchestrated in advance.

“Now what you have are organized protests that are led by people from the other party who are angry, and they round up angry people, they come to the town hall and they totally dominate the conversation,” he said. “As you know, I disagree with almost everything Dennis does, but the bottom line is I don’t think it’s fair to put him on the spot and have an organized confrontation that way. I think that’s an ambush, and I don’t think that’s right.”

Anderson said it’s unfortunate that those tactics have prompted members of Congress to cease holding public meetings.

“The town halls have really become a piece of political theater, and that kind of organized confrontation or organized protest puts the representatives at kind of a disadvantage, and you have to be sympathetic to the person,” he said. “Some of those have been really ugly, and I don’t mean just hard questions. I mean ugly in the sense that they’ve been shouted off the stage and ugly in the sense there’s been profanity and there’s been chanting. That’s not a town hall; that’s a protest.”

A few hours before Ross held his telephone discussion Wednesday, a group of local residents showed up at his Lakeland district office to engage in their own form of political theater. The roughly 15 people represented four progressive groups — Lakeland Indivisible, United for Action, East Hillsborough Indivisible and Indivisible Action Together Tampa Bay.

The activists carried an oversized replica of a check for $275 billion made out to “The Wealthiest 1%” and signed by President Donald Trump and Ross. The check demonstrated the group’s assertion that the tax overhaul now being pushed by Congressional Republicans would benefit the rich at the expense of less affluent Americans.

One of the activists, Sharon Graham, dressed as the Monopoly character Rich Uncle Pennybags. Ross was in Washington, D.C., and a member of his staff came out to greet the demonstrators.

“The staff was polite and said they would pass on our concerns,” said Kathie Sutherland, one of the organizers.

Freire said constituents have plenty of other ways to share their opinions with Ross and his staff. The office welcomes contact by phone, letters or email and strives to respond promptly, he said.

Ross hasn’t set a date or time for his next telephone town hall, Freire said.

“With the fluidity of the Congressional schedule, we’re not able lock in dates and times till sometimes the last minute,” he said.

Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or 863-802-7518. Follow on Twitter @garywhite13.

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